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Miscellaneous unorganized material/WWAY
WWAY is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Cape Fear area of North Carolina that is licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 from a transmitter northwest of Bolivia. Owned by Morris Multimedia, the station has studios on North Front Street in Downtown Wilmington. Syndicated programming on WWAY includes: The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, Judge Judy, and The Dr. Oz Show. Digital programming Its signal is multiplexed. On WWAY-DT2, Time Warner digital channel 106, and Charter digital channel 148 is the Retro Television Network (RTV). History WWAY first signed on-the-air on October 1, 1964 as the second television station in Wilmington preceded by WECT by more than ten years. It has been an ABC affiliate since their inception. This was somewhat unusual for a two-station market (especially one of Wilmington's size) and the reason is not clear to this day. In most two-station markets, ABC was relegated to secondary status on the existing stations. WWAY was founded by local Wilmington interests, but by the mid-1980s, the station was owned by Clay Communications. It underwent a revolving door of owners over the course of the next two decades. In 1987, Clay sold its broadcasting interests, including WWAY, to Price Communications.[2] In 1988, Price sold WWAY to Adams Television [3] who flipped the station to Hillside Broadcasting a few years later. Hillside then sold WWAY to Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Liberty Corporation, in 1999.[4] In 2005, Liberty merged its broadcasting interests with Raycom Media (who already owned WECT) which put WWAY in violation of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) duopoly rules that do not allow common ownership of two of the four largest stations in a single market. This channel was spun off to current owner Morris Multimedia in 2006. On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that five stations in Wilmington, including WWAY, had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8 [5] serving as a test market for the 2009 national DTV transition. On June 15, WWAY started broadcasting the Retro Television Network on their second digital channel. This had previously served as a 24-hour local weather channel. On August 1, 2009, they discontinued their weekend newscasts. According to the Star-News, WWAY could restart those broadcasts when the economy recovers. The station currently broadcasts its newscasts in 16x9 widescreen enhanced definition. Cable and satellite availability In North Carolina, WWAY is still carried in Rowland which is part of the Florence/Myrtle Beach/Lumberton, North Carolina market. Rowland and all of Robeson County used to be part of the Wilmington market and even earlier the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville DMA. Lumberton, the county seat of Robeson County, used to carry WWAY as well until around 1999. Jacksonville, North Carolina still carries WWAY even though it is part of the Greenville/Washington/New Bern market. In South Carolina, WWAY used to be carried in Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach up until the late 1990s. It was carried along the South Carolina borderbelt communities near the North Carolina state line but no longer is. WWAY is not carried on satellite outside of the market in the Carolinas. In Brunswick County, North Carolina, the station is carried on ATMC channel 5. News team Anchors *Marcy Cuevas - weekday mornings *Kevin Wuzzardo - weekday mornings **"Fugitive Files", "Coastal Carolina Closeup", and "Kitchen Cops" segments producer *Meghan Torjussen - weeknights at 5 and 11 **reporter *Ann McAdams - weeknights at 5:30 and 6 **investigative reporter *Greg Privett- Weeknights at 5,6 and 11 pm Storm Track 3 ESP Meteorologists *Chris Phillips (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights *Jerry Jackson (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and weather documentary producer *Tim Buckley - fill-in and news reporter Reporters *Art Ginsburg - "Mr. Food" segment producer *John Rendleman - news and sports **''Coach's Corner'' host *Jesse Jones - sports *Hailey Winslow - website *Courtney Brooks *Chris Allen *Joe Mauceri *Nadine Maeser *Ramon Hererra Newscast titles *''News Scope'' (1964–1971) *''TV 3 News'' (1971–1978) *''Channel 3 Eyewitness News'' (1978–1991) *''NewsChannel 3'' (1991–2003) *''WWAY NewsChannel 3'' (2003–present) Station slogans *"Your WWAY" (1980s) *"First, Live, and Local" (1990s-2000s) *"Live. Local. Interactive." (2007–present) Notable former staff *Ben Baird *Steve Beverly *Jerry Brown (now at WMBB in Panama City, FL) *Jenna Caiazzo *Kaci Christian *Douglas Clark *Kim Downing (deceased) *Dawn Davenport (current sports reporter/anchor at WKRN in Nashville, TN) *Jon Evans *Kitty Fitzgibbon *Chris Francis *Shirley Gilbert (deceased) *Dina Garrett *Carisa Lawson *Jeff Lennox (now reporter.anchor at "WESH 2 News", NBC Orlando, FL) *Mark Mcginnis (Chief Meteorologist at WDJT Milwaukee) *Chris Marshall *Gene Motley *Kim Ratcliff (now at WECT/WSFX- Carolina in the morning anchor and WECT NEWS AT NOON) *Monica Rix *Richard Rogers (now 6 & 11 o'clock anchor News 12 Augusta, Georgia) *Jill Rogers (now in Augusta, Georgia) *Karen Schradin *Daniel Seamans (6 pm and 11 pm anchor at WOLO) *Stella Shelton *Sonya Stevens- (now morning/noon meteorologist at WMAZ in Macon, GA) *Latricia Thomas- (current 5:00 and 5:30 anchor at WTVC in Chattanooga, TN) *Ken Watlington (now sports anchor/reporter at BCSN/WTOL in Toledo, OH) *Steve Rondinaro *Margo Gray (now at WAFF TV) References #'^' The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says October 1, while the Television and Cable Factbook says October 30. #'^' COMPANY NEWS; Clay-Price Pact On 4 TV Stations - New York Times #'^' COMPANY NEWS; BRIEFS - New York Times #'^' Company News; Liberty Subsidiary Buys Tv Station In North Carolina - New York Times #'^' http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-282032A1.pdf *Digital TV transition kicks off in Wilmington NC, LA Times, September 8, 2008 External links *WWAY channel 46 *ABC *Query the FCC's TV station database for WWAY